Being an immigrant is not simply about moving from one country to another. It is a profound transformation, almost a re-creation of oneself, much like a caterpillar’s metamorphosis into a butterfly. One must shed an old skin and adapt to a new one.
This journey involves loss – the loss of what is familiar (family, language, culture), along with fear of the unknown. But it also demands resilience, adaptation, and ultimately fosters growth.
One of the most persistent challenges we immigrants face is uprootedness, the feeling of not fully belonging anywhere. Yet in today’s world, that sense of displacement is no longer unique to immigrants. In an age of constant mobility, many people – immigrants and natives alike – feel unrooted, like cultural nomads. Modern life often pulls us from place to place; in fact, the average American is expected to move a dozen times in their lifetime, making it hard to put down lasting roots. At the same time, political polarization and social fragmentation have left many feeling like “political orphans,” estranged from any side.
When we lose our sense of belonging, we risk living disconnected from reality and community. We grow apathetic to the suffering of others, and we become more susceptible to blaming “the other” for every misfortune. Alienation can breed suspicion, division, and even hostility.
How, then, can we heal this wound of disconnection and foster a renewed sense of belonging?
Recently, Cardinal Robert W. McElroy suggested a way forward. Speaking at a University of Notre Dame forum on “Healing Our National Dialogue and Political Life,” he argued that overcoming the deep divisions in our nation will require “a moral reset rooted in gratitude, compassion, and shared purpose.” In his view, we need to make three key transitions in our public and private life: moving “from grievance to gratitude, from warfare to shared purpose, and from insularity to compassion.” Those same three values, I believe, are precisely what we need to build a renewed culture of belonging, not just for immigrants like me, but for everyone.
Let’s consider each of these virtues:
Gratitude
We are approaching one of the most cherished holidays of the year: Thanksgiving Day. From its very beginnings, Thanksgiving has been about gratitude and bringing people together. It is a moment when families and communities gather to give thanks to God, to the land, and to all those who have blessed our lives in countless ways. Even if only for a day, divisions tend to fade as we break bread in a spirit of appreciation.
But what if gratitude were not just a holiday tradition, but a daily way of life? Living with thankful hearts instead of attitudes of entitlement shifts our focus from what we lack to the blessings we share. Gratitude humbles us and opens our eyes to goodness, even in difficult times. It reminds us of our dependance on others and on grace beyond ourselves.
If each of us chose to cultivate gratitude each day, our common life would feel less polarized, because we’d be constantly reminded of the gifts and values we hold in common.
Compassion
Gratitude naturally leads to compassion. When our hearts appreciate our shared blessings, we are more inclined to care about our neighbors.
“The other person is not my enemy.” This simple truth can be hard to remember in times of tension. True compassion means loving even when the other is difficult or wounded, embracing them with our heart, as God embraces each of us.
Imagine if compassion, rather than hostility, guided our encounters both in the private and the public spheres. If we approached those who differ from us with empathy instead of suspicion, how much kinder would our world be?
Shared Purpose
A shared purpose gives us common ground even when we come from different backgrounds or hold different opinions. It shifts our mindset “from warfare to shared purpose,” as Cardinal McElroy puts it. Instead of viewing our society as factions locked in perpetual battle, we remember that we are compatriots working toward common goals.
We may have genuine disagreements on how to achieve those goals, but we can still affirm a fundamental solidarity. The cardinal has emphasized that we all desire peace, justice, and a decent life for our families. We all want our communities to flourish, and to focus on that which binds us together, in other words, ideals like freedom, dignity, and justice that form the basis of American unity, regardless of our different ancestries or ideologies.
Healing and a Renewed Sense of Belonging
Ultimately, cultivating gratitude, compassion, and shared purpose can help heal our sense of rootlessness and bring us back into community; it gives us a sense that we belong and that our lives matter.
We all live on some sort of border, visible or invisible. It might be the line between cultures, between political camps, between faiths, or simply the threshold between fear and trust.
Let us dare to cross these frontiers with thankful hearts, with compassionate spirits, and with a commitment to our common good. In doing so, we can help one another rediscover that despite all our differences, we are sisters and brothers traveling together on this journey, sharing common dreams and longing to belong to the one human family.
(Bishop Evelio Menjivar in an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.)
